The elevator door opened and a Sheng Siong supermarket employee literally jumped into the air when he was greeted with a sight of Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers inspecting the usually empty passageway.
It was a surprise joint safety and security enforcement blitz held on 9th December 2011 by the SCDF and the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
A team of nine SCDF officers led by team leader Captain (CPT) Cathay Teo conducted a fire safety enforcement blitz on various shopping centres and entertainment outlets.
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| CPT Cathay Teo (middle) with Warrant Officer Adnan Mohamad (left), a Senior Enforcement Specialist, looking out for fire hazards in Mustafa Centre. PHOTO: Abigail Chua |
CPT Teo, Senior Staff Officer of Fire Safety and Shelter Enforcement, said: “We do these checks on a regular basis. Every year, we have a year end enforcement blitz which we participate with Home Team agencies such as the Police Force.”
Such enforcement checks serve to detect fire safety violations as well as to promote fire safety awareness among members of the public.
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Under the Fire Safety Act, a Fire Hazard Abatement Notice (FHAN) serves as a warning.
When the hazard is repeated, a Notice of Composition (NOC), which is a fine of between $300 and $500, would be issued.
A Notice of Fire Safety Offence (NFSO) instead of an FHAN is issued when the offence is a serious one and warrants a heavier penalty.
For example, those carrying out unauthorized fire safety works may be issued a composition fine of between $300 and $500.
On the enforcement blitz on 9 December 2011, the officers visited two shopping centres and four entertainment outlets.
The first stop was The Verge shopping centre located in Little India.
Violations of the fire safety regulations were found and five FHANs were issued.
The following violations were:
- Obstructions of emergency exits with partitions;
- Retail items obstructing the smoke curtain, which prevents smoke and heat from spreading in the event of a fire;
- Placement of combustible materials such as cardboard boxes along a smoke stop lobby;
- Blocked escape passageways; and
- A damaged emergency exit door at a service lobby.
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| Emergency exits were obstructed by Sheng Siong's goods trolleys. PHOTO: Abigail Chua |
Similarly, at Mustafa Centre’s new wing, access to fire-fighting equipment and emergency exits were blocked by workstations and cartons of goods.
Mustafa Centre was fined $17,000 just last year for reasons such as overcrowding and illegally changing external corridors into retail space without a permit.
It has had 45 fire safety violations in the past five years.
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| The access to fire-fighting equipment was blocked by a workstation table and cartons of goods at Mustafa Centre. PHOTO: Abigail Chua |
Later in the night, the SCDF was joined by 11 officers from SPF to conduct checks at Clarke Quay’s nightspots.
The enforcement checks were conducted at entertainment outlets, Attica, Club Rebel, Zirca and Shanghai Dolly.
At these clubs, the music was stopped and bright lights were turned on for the checks.
Partygoers were surprised by the sight of dozens of uniformed officers streaming in.
Several violations were found at Attica.
This includes a blocked fire hosereel and an emergency exit that was obstructed by a large plant and a ventilation fan.
As the emergency exit obstruction was a repeated offence, Attica was issued a $500 fine.
The most serious fire safety violation of the night was the conversion of a lounge into a storage area at Club Rebel.
The club was also issued a $500 fine.
Both Shanghai Dolly and Zirca had no fire safety violations.
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| The management of Shanghai Dolly (left) and CPT Cathay Teo (right), leader of the joint enforcement blitz signing a logbook indicating a completed inspection. PHOTO: Abigail Chua |
CPT Teo said: “We have inspected an array of buildings and we feel
that we have accomplished what we've set out to do, which is to find
these fire safety non-compliances and send a message to these
managements that we take this seriously.”
“One issue I would like to bring across is when we did a re-inspection to one of the public entertainment outlets today, the previous non-compliances we found during the previous enforcement checks had been complied with. So we're quite satisfied that our efforts have caused some improvements in the fire safety standards in the public buildings,” he added.
With the holiday season, there will be a higher number of patrons to buildings so SCDF hopes that with the various managements’ collective efforts, the public will have a safer shopping environment.
“One issue I would like to bring across is when we did a re-inspection to one of the public entertainment outlets today, the previous non-compliances we found during the previous enforcement checks had been complied with. So we're quite satisfied that our efforts have caused some improvements in the fire safety standards in the public buildings,” he added.
With the holiday season, there will be a higher number of patrons to buildings so SCDF hopes that with the various managements’ collective efforts, the public will have a safer shopping environment.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
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